I'll continue:
I try to have both, since good nutrition doesn't have to be boring and there's no particular value in making your food boring.
Pasta and vegetable sauce ... with a touch of chili or garlic or coriander. Why not?

“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

My experience is that spicy food fosters attachment to taste. And giving in to this attachment causes further attachment of different types to arise. Therefore I am trying to focus on the nutrition aspect of food and avoid spicy food.

I enjoy taking a multivitamin, which means I tend only to eat for calories and for gastronomic comfort (due to a truncated digestive tract).

"And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting oneself one protects others? By the pursuit, development, and cultivation of the four establishments of mindfulness. It is in such a way that by protecting oneself one protects others.

"And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting others one protects oneself? By patience, harmlessness, goodwill, and sympathy. It is in such a way that by protecting others one protects oneself.

TMingyur wrote:My experience is that spicy food fosters attachment to taste. And giving in to this attachment causes further attachment of different types to arise. Therefore I am trying to focus on the nutrition aspect of food and avoid spicy food.

Kind regards

Presumably sackcloth and ashes are optional.
It reminds me of the British comedy series Blackadder where the Witchfinder General and his wife are worried about the corrupting influence of turnips.

The going for refuge is the door of entrance to the teachings of the Buddha.

‘We will eat in moderation. Reflecting wisely we will not eat for fun, for amusement or for physical attractiveness but only for the maintenance and continuance of this body, for allaying the discomfort of hunger, for assisting in living the holy life and with the thought “I will end the old desires and not give rise to new ones and thus be healthy, blameless and live in comfort” ’ (M.I,273)

Anagamis (non-returners) and Arahants have eliminated all sense desires and have no problem with eating just for sustenance.

I like sweets occasionally (but not as much as my younger days) and spicy foods.

TMingyur wrote:My experience is that spicy food fosters attachment to taste. And giving in to this attachment causes further attachment of different types to arise. Therefore I am trying to focus on the nutrition aspect of food and avoid spicy food.

Kind regards

Presumably sackcloth and ashes are optional.
It reminds me of the British comedy series Blackadder where the Witchfinder General and his wife are worried about the corrupting influence of turnips.

Ajahn Sumedho " When eating I try to avoid being overwhelmed by attraction or aversion or indifference. I try to maintain a mind of gratitude. Even when eating a vegetarian meal things have died for me to live ".

TMingyur wrote:

Sanghamitta wrote:

TMingyur wrote:My experience is that spicy food fosters attachment to taste. And giving in to this attachment causes further attachment of different types to arise. Therefore I am trying to focus on the nutrition aspect of food and avoid spicy food.

Kind regards

Presumably sackcloth and ashes are optional.
It reminds me of the British comedy series Blackadder where the Witchfinder General and his wife are worried about the corrupting influence of turnips.

Thanks for being so respectful as to other's experiences.

kind regards

The going for refuge is the door of entrance to the teachings of the Buddha.

Sanghamitta wrote:Ah I see. You prefer the sauce of self righteousness to curry.

You seem to have misunderstood. To rely on one's experience I would not consider to be "self righteousness". You just make an experience and say "This is my experience ... and that are the conclusions I draw on the basis of my experience ..."

There is not dictate implied that others should follow one's conclusions because others may have different experiences.

[3] "'The perception of loathsomeness in food, when developed & pursued, is of great fruit, of great benefit. It gains a footing in the Deathless, has the Deathless as its final end': Thus was it said. In reference to what was it said?

"When a monk's awareness often remains steeped in the perception of loathsomeness in food, his mind shrinks away from craving for flavors, bends away, pulls back, and is not drawn in, and either equanimity or loathing take a stance. Just as a cock's feather or a piece of tendon, when thrown into a fire, shrinks away, bends away, pulls back, and is not drawn in; in the same way, when a monk's awareness often remains steeped in the perception of loathsomeness in food, his mind shrinks away from craving for flavors, bends away, pulls back, and is not drawn in, and either equanimity or loathing take a stance. If, when a monk's awareness often remains steeped in the perception of loathsomeness in food, his mind inclines to craving for flavors, or if non-loathing takes a stance, then he should realize, 'I have not developed the perception of loathsomeness in food; there is no step-by-step distinction in me; I have not arrived at the fruit of [mental] development.' In that way he is alert there. But if, when a monk's awareness often remains steeped in the perception of loathsomeness in food, his mind shrinks away from craving for flavors, bends away, pulls back, and is not drawn in, and either equanimity or loathing take a stance, then he should realize, 'I have developed the perception of loathsomeness in food; there is a step-by-step distinction in me; I have arrived at the fruit of [mental] development.' In that way he is alert there.

"'The perception of loathsomeness in food, when developed & pursued, is of great fruit, of great benefit. It gains a footing in the Deathless, has the Deathless as its final end': Thus was it said, and in reference to this was it said.http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

David N. Snyder wrote:Actually, the Buddha was sort of the party-pooper:

‘We will eat in moderation. Reflecting wisely we will not eat for fun, for amusement or for physical attractiveness but only for the maintenance and continuance of this body, for allaying the discomfort of hunger, for assisting in living the holy life and with the thought “I will end the old desires and not give rise to new ones and thus be healthy, blameless and live in comfort” ’ (M.I,273)

Anagamis (non-returners) and Arahants have eliminated all sense desires and have no problem with eating just for sustenance.

I like sweets occasionally (but not as much as my younger days) and spicy foods.

I agree. And on retreat, I eat only for sustenance.
Part of my work role is to cater for lots of people. Some of whom are hedonistic sensualists - and I have a serious problem with the continual lusting after food and drink you see in the 'foodie' phenomenon. What I do find disagreeable is to adopt a dietary practice to give one the appearance of being a more serious practitioner. If one wishes to eat only for sustenance as a result of Dhamma practice and it happens naturallly - all well and good. If however, one is attempting to adopt the outward signs of Dhamma as a means to impress others or oneself - that I find curious.
kind regards

Ben

“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

When food has a pleasing taste, I always digest it better than if it tastes bland. So, I also aim for a balance between health and taste.

Plus I've given up a few other things I used to like doing, for the sake of the dhamma...so to also deny myself tasteful foods, when as a layperson I don't have to, seems, well...unnecessary.

I've found that for me, fine chocolate, coffee, and the occassional pizza cause no problems whatsoever, but rather, give much comfort!

Edit: and while eating the chocolate, I aim to know only 'taste'...so yes, I still try to eat meditatively, even while enjoying the pleasing flavour. I try not to be heedless...

"To these too I teach the Dhamma which is lovely in its beginning, lovely in its middle and lovely in its ending, in spirit and in letter, I display to them the holy life, perfectly fulfilled and purified."- from the Desanaa Sutta